Mumbai/Hyderabad: The Indian subsidiary of US Agri-Tech company Plasma Water Solutions Inc announced a very unique and promising partnership with one of the leading global NGOs of India, The Heartfulness Institute. The two organisations have signed a collaboration agreement to promote the common purpose of enabling food security most sustainably and introducing the Green Revolution 2.0 from India to the rest of the world.
Plasma Water Solutions’ proprietary breakthrough cold-plasma technology converts water from any source, in continuous flow and real-time, to Plasma-ised WaterTM (PW). PW technology is used for seed treatment, crop spray and irrigation to enhance productivity through faster and more efficient germination, and accelerated growth, preventing the transmission of plant pathogens and enhancing stress tolerance during the crop cycle.
With over 150+ years of collective experience and expertise in fields ranging from Forestry, Plantation, Plant Bio-Technology to Plant Physiology and Environmental Engineering, the Heartyculture Nursery team of Heartfulness Institute has been recognised with multiple awards from the Government of Telangana (Green Kanha and Mayuri Haritha Vanam). Kanha Shantivanam, the world HQ of Heartfulness, has been awarded the Platinum Honour for being ‘The Biggest Green Campus’ from the Indian Green Building Council in 2019. The entity specialises in nurturing native and endangered trees and plants of India too and actively leads various afforestation projects in private/public partnerships.
“The institute has been promoting good agriculture practices, training farmers in natural solutions and methods to promote plant health, soil health and water health without harming the environment while enhancing food productivity and farmers’ income which is in perfect alignment with the value proposition that Plasma Waters technology offers,” said Robert Hardt, President and CEO, Plasma Water Solutions Inc, USA, while expressing his gratitude to the President of Heartfulness Institute, Shri Kamlesh D Patel (Daaji), and the Heartfulness team for the proactive support extended in the last several months. He further said that he sees Heartfulness as a strategic partner in shaping the company’s R&D efforts meaningfully in India and spreading the outcome to the rest of the world.
Different teams at Kanha Shantivanam have been testing the effects of Plasma Waters treatment on seeds, disease and plant health for the last several months as this was the first site of the company through Samunnati in India. This 1700-acre campus has been extensively using Plasma Waters sprays on multiple crops, vegetables, fruits, medicinal plants and trees. Applications range from treating 250 Neem trees’ dieback issues, 350 Papaya plants’ mosaic virus infestation, 74 date palm trees and 22 Pongamia Pinnata trees’ infestation to seed treatment and sprays on a wide range of food crops, horticulture, hydroponics and nurseries.
The collaboration agreement states that the joint validation trials of Plasma-ised WaterTM application for Agriculture, R&D activities, Agro-Forestry and other agriculture-related uses will be conducted at a large scale and multiple centres/nurseries of the Heartfulness Institute. The existing and new use cases will be tested and demonstrated to the farming community, various stakeholders and agriculture value-chain players to benefit the community at large.
The President of Heartfulness Institute, Shri Kamlesh D Patel (Daaji), Guide of Heartfulness and the visionary behind all the green initiatives of Heartfulness, said, “Our experience with Plasma Waters has been very positive. It has shown significant results in germination, stand quality and disease management. Since this is a natural sustainable solution, Heartfulness would not only use it, recommend it but also meaningfully contribute to the R&D activities of the company in India.”
While the core practices of Heartfulness Institute is training individuals on the refinement of human consciousness through meditative practices, the Institute has been working incessantly towards the cause of education, environment, farming and reskilling at a very large scale under its holistic living principles based on minimum inputs for maximum outputs fundamentals. The goal is to take the least but give back to the environment and community in leaps and bounds. Located in the arid environs of Reddy District, Telangana, on the Deccan Plateau, with fast-depleting groundwater and once dry barren land, this 1700-acre campus in the last five years has transformed into a lush green place with the plantation of more than 200,000 trees. A sapling nursery with more than 600,000 saplings is acting as a supply for the plantation in the region, while close to 1,000 trees saved and translocated from faraway places resurrected here.
The Heartfulness Institute is a perfect partner for a purpose-driven Agri-Tech company like Plasma Waters and its R&D activities with the focus, patronage and passion for a sustainable Green Revolution that is offered here heartfully.
“The diverse platform for demonstration and continuous refinement of the tech that is offered by Heartfulness through opportunities ranging from traditional farming, hydroponics, aeroponics, tissue culture processes, horticulture, floriculture, oil seeds, fruit orchards to agro-forestry and afforestation projects are very exciting and reassuring for our India journey,” said Pragya Kalia, MD, Plasma Water Solutions India Pvt Ltd.
Vamsi Chalagulla, Joint Secretary of Heartfulness and a tech-preneur himself, said, “Under Daaji’s guidance, Heartfulness has trained thousands of farmers and farming communities so far on sustainable climate-smart agri practices and techniques. Plasma Waters technology fits the offerings well since it is natural and helps the farming community on multiple fronts.”